Consortium, UAS Sitka offer wellness training

Posted: Friday, June 20, 2008

SITKA - Most people know they need to eat healthier food and get more physical activity each day, but they don't know where to start. A Community Wellness Advocate (CWA) can help people make these healthy lifestyle changes.

The award-winning Community Wellness Advocate training program is recruiting for fall classes, and new students need to schedule an interview by Aug. 5 to reserve a spot in the program. The CWA training program is a cooperative effort between the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium and the University of Alaska Southeast in Sitka. Classes are taught using distance delivery, which allows students to stay in their home communities for all but two one-week periods a year, when they go to Sitka for hands-on training.

"There is a huge need in this state for health education, health promotion and public health," said Lisa Sadleir-Hart, a SEARHC Health Educator who coordinates the CWA training program. "We have skyrocketing rates of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The rates of chronic disease are climbing and it's all based on lifestyle choices. The CWA program is about what do we do in our communities so people make healthier choices."

Starting this year, students who complete the 12-credit core track can earn an occupational endorsement. To earn a 30-credit CWA certificate, students complete the 12-credit core track, one of two specialty tracks - injury prevention is taught this year and nutrition next year - and other general classes.

The CWA classes can be used as part of the requirements to earn an Associate of Applied Science degree in health services from UAS-Sitka Campus. Federal financial aid is available for students in the 30-credit program, and there may be travel resources for Alaska Native students. Some tribes, Native corporations, regional tribal health organizations and other groups will help students pay for classes and travel fees, and they may offer jobs after graduation.

"Since our first meeting at residency to graduation, everything we learned I am using," said Kim Aspelund, a CWA for Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage, where she teaches elders nutrition, diabetes prevention, tobacco cessation and exercise classes. "The best thing I love about my job is that we are given the freedom to be creative to teach. I love my job and recommend this CWA program to anyone who is interested in promoting health and wellness."

For more information or to interview for a spot in the program, contact Lisa Sadleir-Hart by Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 907-966-8735 or lisa.sadleir-hart@searhc.org. Space is limited. To learn more about the program, go to http://www.searhc.org/cwa/, and to get an application, go to http://www.uas.alaska.edu/sitka/programs/CWA.html.